Let your words be the genuine picture of your heart

“Hypocrites in the Church? Yes, and in the lodge and at the home. Don't hunt through the Church for a hypocrite. Go home and look in the mirror. Hypocrites? Yes. See that you make the number one less.”

Gospel Text: Mk 12:13-17

Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent

to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech.

They came and said to him,

"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man

and that you are not concerned with anyone's opinion.

You do not regard a person's status

but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?

Should we pay or should we not pay?"

Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them,

"Why are you testing me?

Bring me a denarius to look at."

They brought one to him and he said to them,

"Whose image and inscription is this?"

They replied to him, "Caesar's."

So Jesus said to them,

"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar

and to God what belongs to God."

They were utterly amazed at him.

I recently watched a debate between two men about the existence of God.  Both were very intelligent and seemed very sincere.  However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that the debate was not about God.  It wasn’t about finding the truth.  It was about establishing who was the smarter of the two - who could win the debate.  It seemed so fruitless.

If you have the opportunity to talk to someone about God, why would you turn it into a contest?  Why not attempt to find the truth?  Try to make the other person’s life better.  Knowing Jesus does not make me better than them.  Knowing Jesus just makes my life better.

It is so easy for our focus to move from Christ to the world.  If the focus is on the world, we’ll be worried about winning.  If the focus is on the world, even if we win, we will only receive what the world has to offer. 

I can think of no greater gift than to introduce someone to Christ.  And yet sometimes we approach non-believers like we are entering some kind of contest.  Can we trick someone into a relationship with Christ?  If my goal is to simply win the debate game, will my opponent see Christ in me?

“Lukewarm acceptance is more bewildering than outright rejection.”

'Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.' - Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Gospel Text: Mk 12:1-12

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes,

and the elders in parables.

"A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it,

dug a wine press, and built a tower.

Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.

At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants

to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.

But they seized him, beat him,

and sent him away empty-handed.

Again he sent them another servant.

And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully.

He sent yet another whom they killed.

So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed.

He had one other to send, a beloved son.

He sent him to them last of all, thinking, 'They will respect my son.'

But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir.

Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'

So they seized him and killed him,

and threw him out of the vineyard.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do?

He will come, put the tenants to death,

and give the vineyard to others.

Have you not read this Scripture passage:

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

by the Lord has this been done,

and it is wonderful in our eyes?"

They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd,

for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them.

So they left him and went away.

What kind of tenants are we?

We may oppose those in charge of helping us give the fruits God expects. We may object to the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church and of the Pope, the bishops, or perhaps, more modestly, those of our parents, our spiritual director, or a good friend of ours who is trying to help us. We may even become aggressive, and try to wound them or even kill them through criticism and negative comments. Instead, maybe we should examine ourselves about the real motives of such an attitude on our part. Maybe we need a deeper knowledge of our Faith; maybe we need a deeper knowledge of ourselves, a better examination of conscience to discover the reason why we do not want to produce fruits. 



Let us ask Our Mother Mary to help us work with love under the guidance of the Pope. We can all be “good shepherds” and “fishers” of men. «Let us ask the Lord to help us to bear fruit, a fruit that abides. Only thus is the earth transformed from a vale of tears into a garden of God» (Benedict XVI).

We can carry our souls, or that of our friends, or the whole world closer to Jesus Christ, if we only read and meditate the teaching of the Holy Father, and try to put them into practice.

Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out

He that is kind is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.  - Saint Augustine

Scripture Text: Rom 8:14-17

Brothers and sisters:

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

but you received a Spirit of adoption,

through whom we cry, "Abba, Father!"

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit

that we are children of God,

and if children, then heirs,

heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,

if only we suffer with him

so that we may also be glorified with him.

The scripture reading today describes finding comfort with God. Sometimes we don’t feel worthy, we get confused, or maybe we feel that we don’t need God. For me these natural feelings can cause me to feel like a stranger to God, or perhaps even a “spirit of slavery.” When I read this term, an image pops into my head of a person with shackles lying in a dark dungeon. This person lives everyday in darkness and suffering but one day has a visitor. The approach of this visitor causes a frightening feeling for the prisoner because he is so used to being harassed by guards and unpleasant people. It is the prisoner’s own worry and feeling of unworthiness that causes this fright, much like worry and unworthiness can cause us to fear God and fear the faith to let him in. It is only until that visitor approaches the dungeon bars, opens the door, and unshackles the prisoner that the prisoner realizes the visitor should not be feared, but be thanked and loved. This feeling comes from opening ourselves and realizing that we are children of God, and he is there to carry our burdens and break our chains.

If you believe, then unbelievable things can be possible.

My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings. ~St. Isaac Jogues

Gospel Text: Mk 11:11-26

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area.

He looked around at everything and, since it was already late,

went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.

Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf,

he went over to see if he could find anything on it.

When he reached it he found nothing but leaves;

it was not the time for figs.

And he said to it in reply, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again!"

And his disciples heard it.

They came to Jerusalem,

and on entering the temple area

he began to drive out those selling and buying there.

He overturned the tables of the money changers

and the seats of those who were selling doves.

He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.

Then he taught them saying, "Is it not written:

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?

But you have made it a den of thieves."

The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it

and were seeking a way to put him to death,

yet they feared him

because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.

When evening came, they went out of the city.

Early in the morning, as they were walking along,

they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.

Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look!

The fig tree that you cursed has withered."

Jesus said to them in reply, "Have faith in God.

Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,

'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,'

and does not doubt in his heart

but believes that what he says will happen,

it shall be done for him.

Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,

believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.

When you stand to pray,

forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,

so that your heavenly Father may in turn

forgive you your transgressions.'

The Gospel reading today, I think, can be confusing at times. Certainly, when Jesus came upon the fig tree, he knew that it would not have fruit because it was not the season for figs. After reading into the matter a bit, I learned that before figs comes a “precursor fruit.” Because Jesus didn’t find this precursor, he knew that the tree would be fruitless, even when it came time for fig season.

Surely, Mark is not writing on this subject to show Jesus’ anger toward a barren fig tree, but I think it refers more to the state of society. I believe that Jesus is referring to the barren society; the nation in which they live is barren and fruitless and will eventually die off, which could be a reference to the destruction of the Temple. In large part, I understand the reading as such due to the inserted section regarding the people selling and buying in the Temple. People were using the Temple as a trading location to gain riches rather than a holy place to pray. Jesus witnessed the corruption of society as such regularly, and so he warns his disciples regarding this destruction with the fig tree as a symbol. May we be fruitful in our lives by not being preoccupied with riches but rather be faithful and blessed by the Lord.

There is no misery that could be a match for God’s mercy

Let our judgment of souls cease, for God's mercy upon them is extraordinary. --St Faustina

Scripture Text: Jude 17, 20B-25

Beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand

by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit.

Keep yourselves in the love of God

and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

that leads to eternal life.

On those who waver, have mercy;

save others by snatching them out of the fire;

on others have mercy with fear,

abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.

To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling

and to present you unblemished and exultant,

in the presence of his glory,

to the only God, our savior,

through Jesus Christ our Lord

be glory, majesty, power, and authority

from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.

It’s often said that everyone is out for himself.  For capitalism to thrive, compassion must yield to a relentless pursuit of one’s own interest. But not to fear: greed makes the community prosper.  Let the great scramble begin!  People will work like crazy to come out ahead.  The most ruthless are those that enlarge the pie for the rest.  Some facetiously suggest that to beat the competition, hire a psychopath to run things. Greed is the new virtue while altruism is a sweet thought with no traction.

After the recent financial upheaval that destroyed savings, jobs, and lives, we may wonder about the gospel of greed.  Does any human endeavor prosper under a regime of self-interest?  Even corporations require trust and cooperation to reach their goals.  Markets can’t function without rules of fair play.  Only when people are cynically manipulated does their readiness to sacrifice dry up.  Maybe the invisible hand of Adam Smith is invisible because it just isn’t there.

Cynicism paints the world from a distance.  Jesus enters the human scene up close.  No one reaches their goals without lots of help.  Sooner or later, each needs a second or third chance or more.  Father Zossima, in Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov, insists that we are never alone, even when carrying guilt for crimes.  The hard times can be endured because we are in it together. Greater than money is the gift of being known and standing together in solidarity. 

Mercy is life’s oxygen.